Many missed South Walton segment on 'Emeril's Florida'

Published: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 05:51 PM.

SANTA ROSA BEACH — The segment on Emeril Lagasse’s new TV show that featured his home of South Walton County last week left many people scanning the channels and scratching their heads.

The county’s Tourist Development Council, which spearheaded buying one episode of the new series for $150,000, apparently was not aware that the people living in South Walton could not watch it.

The first-run episode of “Emeril’s Florida” aired Sunday morning on the Cooking Channel. The channel is not offered by Mediacom, which serves much of the area. The only people who could watch it were those with a satellite dish or those able to pick it up on their computer.

Several people wanted to know why.

TDC director Dawn Moliterno said, “No, I was not aware (that 30A would not be able to tune in), but the real value and purpose was to reach tens of millions of viewers, expose (them) to our area and highlight the diverse culinary we have in South Walton.

“In fact, we had a call come in right after the airing from the northeast area to our visitor center requesting a visitor guide. They were so impressed with what they saw on the show they are now planning their next vacation later this year to South Walton,” Moliterno said. “Also, this was a co-op with Visit Florida and the Cooking Channel. We didn’t have a choice to go with a different network.”

Some people understood and some did not.

Local Realtor Murray Balkcom said he watched the show on his computer.

“My thoughts about it are that there are different types of advertising, and if she was advertising to people outside this area it might draw them here,” he said.

However, there were many more who said their tax dollars paid for show and they should have been able to watch it.

“We bought his (Emeril’s) new kitchen for over a hundred grand with our TDC tax dollars. When do we get to see it?” said Bob Dobes of Seagrove Beach.

A Mediacom area supervisor said his company serves 12,000 modems in South Walton from the Bay County line west to near the west end of County Road 30A.

Sandestin is serviced by Cox Communications, which offers the Cooking Channel on its upgraded package.

Walton Sun Staff Writer Deborah Wheeler can be reached at 850-654-8443 or dwheeler@waltonsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @WaltonSunDeb.

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SANTA ROSA BEACH — The segment on Emeril Lagasse’s new TV show that featured his home of South Walton County last week left many people scanning the channels and scratching their heads.

The county’s Tourist Development Council, which spearheaded buying one episode of the new series for $150,000, apparently was not aware that the people living in South Walton could not watch it.

The first-run episode of “Emeril’s Florida” aired Sunday morning on the Cooking Channel. The channel is not offered by Mediacom, which serves much of the area. The only people who could watch it were those with a satellite dish or those able to pick it up on their computer.

Several people wanted to know why.

TDC director Dawn Moliterno said, “No, I was not aware (that 30A would not be able to tune in), but the real value and purpose was to reach tens of millions of viewers, expose (them) to our area and highlight the diverse culinary we have in South Walton.

“In fact, we had a call come in right after the airing from the northeast area to our visitor center requesting a visitor guide. They were so impressed with what they saw on the show they are now planning their next vacation later this year to South Walton,” Moliterno said. “Also, this was a co-op with Visit Florida and the Cooking Channel. We didn’t have a choice to go with a different network.”

Some people understood and some did not.

Local Realtor Murray Balkcom said he watched the show on his computer.

“My thoughts about it are that there are different types of advertising, and if she was advertising to people outside this area it might draw them here,” he said.

However, there were many more who said their tax dollars paid for show and they should have been able to watch it.

“We bought his (Emeril’s) new kitchen for over a hundred grand with our TDC tax dollars. When do we get to see it?” said Bob Dobes of Seagrove Beach.

A Mediacom area supervisor said his company serves 12,000 modems in South Walton from the Bay County line west to near the west end of County Road 30A.

Sandestin is serviced by Cox Communications, which offers the Cooking Channel on its upgraded package.

Walton Sun Staff Writer Deborah Wheeler can be reached at 850-654-8443 or dwheeler@waltonsun.com. Follow her on Twitter @WaltonSunDeb.